Caring for a pet is a wonderful way for kids to learn about long-time responsibility and can also be an opportunity for children to develop an interest in science. If your children express a strong desire to have a pet of their own, an aquarium can be an ideal choice in many situations.
To begin with, an aquarium can be a handy way of testing if your kid is ready to be a devoted pet owner or not. As adults, we are the ones who have the final say when it comes to pet purchases, and the welfare or each pet in our household is ultimately our responsibility. Do not get a pet for your kid unless you are prepared to care for the pet yourself if the child looses interest in it. A dog has an estimated life span of 8-15 years (depending on breed) while there are many fish species that only live a year or even less in the wild. By picking the right fish species you can give your children an opportunity to prove to you if they are prepared to care for living creatures every day or not. If they fall through and you end up having to care for the aquarium, you will not be stuck with an animal for a decade or be forced to put a dog or cat through the stress and confusion of being relocated to a new family. It is however important to keep in mind that many species of fish can live for 15 years or even more, so make sure that you select the right species for the aquarium. There are many aquarium sites available online that lists the natural life span of various fish species and you can also post a question in an aquarium forum and let more experienced fish keepers steer you towards suitable fish.
As mentioned above, giving your children their own aquarium can be a great way of making them realise how fascinating the world of science can be. For many kids (and adults!), biology, chemistry, physics and math becomes much more interesting and tangible when they realise how it can benefit them in their everyday life, e.g. by making it possible for them to keep beautiful but sensitive fish species. There are also many examples of kids who thanks to their aquarium devotion have developed an almost uncanny understanding of Amazonian biotopes, African mangrove swamps and pollution induced algal blooms. You don’t have to be a science geek from the start; virtually every advanced aquarist with profound knowledge about everything from pH-buffers to nitrogen converting bacteria have started out with a few hardy fishes and then gradually learned more and more about how the tiny ecosystem that is an aquarium actually works.
If you want the aquarium to be an enjoyable experience for your kid, it is important that you both do your homework in advance. Choose hardy species to avoid sudden mass death in the tank, and ideally read up on every single species that you’re interested in. Reputable aquarium stores can often help you pick out hardy and peaceful species that will do fine in your local tap water and get along with each other in the aquarium. Letting your kid randomly pick out a bunch of fish from the fish store based on outer appearance is rarely a good idea. If you’re not an experienced aquarist yourself, don’t hesitate to ask for advice from your local fish club or in an online forum. Unfortunately, quite a few fish vendors are only interesting in selling as much fish as possible and it is therefore always a good idea to get a second opinion from an unbiased source.
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William Berg is an experienced fish keeper and writes about how to keep and care for tropical fish for a tropical fish portal as well as for several aquarium magazines.
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